Means for lubricating ice runners or blades



Filed Sept. 8. 1960 mm 8w ON M N iv v INVENTOR WILFRED BENJAMINVAILLANCOURT PATENT AGENT W. B. VAILLANCOURT MEANS FOR LUBRICATING ICERUNNERS OR BLADES March 27, 1962 m? mm mm wm 2 Unite [Lexi The presentinvention is concerned with improvements in or relating to ice blades orrunners such as are used, for example, in skates, sleds and ice boatswhich are intended for travel upon ice surfaces.

At any temperature between about 10 F. and the freezing point of water asheet of ice is in equilibrium with a thin adherent film of watercovering its surface, which film will reduce considerably the frictionof a smooth body sliding upon the ice sheet. If the contact pressure ofthe body is sufliciently high the film is momentarily thickened over thearea of contact and the sliding friction coefiicient is reducedappreciably; this well-known effect is understood to explain why iceskates, sleds and ice boats can travel at relatively high speeds overice with little effort. With ice at between 28 F. and 32 the adherentsurface film is at its thickest and the lowest sliding frictioncoefiicient is manifested. Such ice is however less strong than a sheetheld at a lower temperature.

In a skating arena with artificial ice Where the temperature of the iceis controllable, a temperature of about 16 F. is preferred and ismaintained to provide ice of optimum hardness and toughness, and toallow ice hockey pucks and other low contact pressure objects to slideeasily without sticking.

It was at one time believed that the thickened layer of water under theice blades or runners provided as much reduction in friction as could beexpected, but subsequently it has been proposed to apply a liquidlubricant between the ice and the blades or runners to reduce thesliding friction still further. The result of reducing the slidingfriction is to increase the speed possible for a given effort, or toreduce the force required in starting a body from rest and inmaintaining it in motion at a predetermined speed.

A primary object of the present invention is therefore to provide a newform of lubricated ice blade or runner, and, in accordance with thisinvention, this object is achieved by providing an ice blade or runnercomprising a blade member having an ice-engaging face, a reservoir for alubricant liquid, and liquid flow control means for adjusting the rateof flow of liquid from the reservoir along a flow path to theice-engaging face.

Another object of the present invention is to realize a skate or runnerhaving relatively thin blades whose ice contacting surface islubricated, and to this end an ice blade or runner is providedcomprising a blade member having two side faces and an ice-engagingface, a reservoir for a lubricant liquid and at least two liquid flowcontrol means for adjusting the rate of flow of liquid from thereservoir along respective flow paths over the side faces to theice-engaging face.

A particular form of ice skate blade intended primarily for playing icehockey will now be described, by way of example, with reference to theaccompanying drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a view in side elevation of the skate having a reservoir andliquid flow control means according to the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a section taken on the line 2-2 of FIG- URE l and drawn to alarger scale, and showing one form of liquid lubricant flow controlmeans; and,

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken on line 33 showing an alternativefiow control valve means.

States Patent 3,027,172 Patented Mar. 27, 1962 Referring now to FIGURESl and 2, an ice skate blade of conventional form is shown, comprising ablade member 10 of rectangular section mounted securely as by welding orbrazing in a longitudinal slot in a hollow, tubular frame member 11. Twohollow frusto-conical support posts or columns 12 and 13 extend upwardsfrom the tubular member 11 and carry respectively at their upper endssole-supporting plate 14- and heel-supporting plate 15. The plates 14and 15 are intended to be fastened to a skate boot (not shown) in knownmanner, as by screws or rivets. The front end of the skate member 10 isalso fastened to the sole plate 14 by means of a bracket 16 and rivets17.

The interiors of the posts or columns 12 and 13, and of the tubularmember 11 are in free communication with one another, as by apertures37, formed in the upper part of tubular body 11, and together form asingle reservoir for holding a quantity of liquid lubricant as indicatedat 39. An apertured breather plug 18 is provided in the column 13 and/orthe column 12, the plug being of a form and provided with a capillarybore (not shown) such as will permit air to flow into the reservoir andyet prevent liquid from escaping whenever the skate is held on its side.In this embodiment the plug 13 is also readily removable as by threadedengagement in a hole in the wall of column 12 to provide a fillingaperture through which the reservoir may be filled with lubricantliquid. It is to be understood that in other embodiments a separatefilling plug may be provided and that more than one breather plug 18 maybe also provided.

Flow control means for the liquid lubricant according to a preferredembodiment are shown in detail in FIG- URE 2 and comprise two separatevalve assemblies each of which controls the flow of liquid in arespective flow path from the interior of the reservoir to the bladeedge. Liquid which has reached the junction of the side face of theblade 10 with the ice surface 41 moves by capillary action as a filmwetting running surface 10a to provide a thin lubricating layer (notshown) on which the concave blade slides. Each valve includes a tubularhousing or body 19 which extends through the hollow member 11, with itslongitudinal axis inclined to the vertical when the skate is in itsnormal upright position. The axis of housing 19 may conveniently beinclined at 45 from the vertical, although somewhat greater or lesserangles of inclination may be employed. The housing 19 is fixed in themember 11 by any suitable means, for example by welding or upsetting itsends in apertures 22a formed by drilling through both walls of the framealong a diameter. A screw 20 is coaxially mounted in the housing,engaging a correspondingly screw-threaded bore 20a intermediate the endsof housing 19. The screw 20 has a tapering pointed end 21 which extendsinto an axial counterbore 22 of lesser diameter adjacent the lower endof the body, thereby constituting a flow-controlling needle valve. Arestoring spring 23 is engaged beneath the head of the screw in bore 20bto ensure that the screw cannot turn accidentally due to vibration andshock.

A transverse bore or port 24 through the housing intersects the axis ofbore 29a at its junction with counterbore 22, thereby providing apassage in communication with the interior of the reservoir. With thescrew 20 seated home at the junction with bore 24, liquid cannot escapefrom the reservoir and the rate of flow is controllable by withdrawingthe point of the screw from this home position to a desired setting. Theliquid passing into the counterbore 22 is led therealong to an aperture22a and flows down by way of a channel 25 in the side of tubular member11 and thence down the side of blade 10. The liquid reaches the contactzone between the blade and the ice surface and so lubricates thecontact.

A shallow groove or channel 44 may also be provided in the side face ofthe blade member transversely of its length to provide a more definiteflow path for the liquid. Such a channel may however be omitted infavour of unguided downward movement of liquid over the side faces,particularly where blade 10 is very thin.

The other of the said two valve assemblies comprises a second tubularbody designated 19a also extending through the tubular frame member withits longitudinal axis at 45 to the vertical, but oppositely inclined tothe first valve. Liquid flowing from valve body 1% is led in itsrespective flow path by a channel 25a and thence down the other sideface of blade member 10. While two separate valve mounting bodies 19 and19a are disclosed for the embodiment described, more than two valves andtheir associated flow paths may be provided in other embodiments notillustrated herein. It is believed to be apparent that such additionalvalves and flow paths may be arranged as desired along a frame member todischarge liquid lubricant to the running surface at a point or pointsso that as much lubricant may be supplied as may be found necessary.Such a modification is contemplated as being particularly applicable tolubrication of sled and ice yacht runners of considerable length runningat high speed.

Preferably, the heads of the plugs 18 and the screws are slotted toreceive a coin, a screwdriver blade, or other manipulative tool wherebythey can be turned to adjust flow rate of the liquid. In the embodimentillustrated the heads of the plugs and screws are shown as standingslightly protruding from the skate blade members, although in otherembodiments they may be set in recesses sufficiently deep to ensure thatthey are not struck by hockey sticks or other skates while in use.

The interior surfaces of the tubular member 11 and the exterior surfacesof the valve bodies 19 and 19a are preferably coated with aliquidimpervious layer 26, egg. of polyethylene applied as a coatingfrom a liquid melt, which serves to aid in the prevention of corrosionand rusting of these surfaces. The layers 26 may not be required wherethe reservoir and flow control devices are fabricated of nonrustingmaterials, such as stainless steel or aluminum, for example.

In those embodiments adapted to existing forms of tubular hockey skatehaving apertured sole and heel plates 14 and 15, it is advisable toemploy suitable sealing means between the boot and the reservoir spaceto prevent loss of liquid or damage to the boot sole.

Referring now to FIGURE 3, another form of flow control means isillustrated in which a single tubular body 27 is mounted transverselyhorizontally in the tubular frame member 11. A screw-threaded bore 33extends the length of tubular body 27 and contains a plug 28 ofresilient porous compressible material disposed intermediate the ends ofthe body between the two screws 29 and 29a threadedly received in thebody ends. Each screw has a respective axial bore 30 and 30a, one end ofeach bore being in contact with the plug 28 and the other end being opento communicate with the aperture 22a in the skate frame member. Bymovement of the two screws in an axial direction to compress the plug 28between them, the porosity and hence the flow capacity of the plugmaterial for conveying liquid from the reservoir to bores 30 and 30a isdecreased, and may be brought to zero by sufficiently compressing theplug. Retraction of the screws 29 and 29a permits reservoir fluid toenter tubular body 27 through side port 3 1 and to flow through theplug, and thence by way of bores 3d and 30a down channels and 25a toflow down the opposite side faces of blade member 1% to the running face10a. Any suitable number of such valve devices may be provided along thelength of a blade or runner.

Two or more ports 31 may be provided in the wall of tubular body 27 toexpedite movement of liquid into plug 28. The latter is preferablyformed as a jumbled 4 mass of filaments of a durable non-swellingsubstance such as one of the polyamides known in the trade as nylon, ora suitable polyester material.

Suitable lubricating liquids are clear water, preferably having a lowconcentration of dissolved salts and suspended matter. Emulsions of thewater-in-oil type and substances in the nature of wetting agents arehowever preferred to water alone for the reason that such materials haveadvantages of greater lubricity and/or lower surface tension, therebypromoting the flow and spreading of lubricant liquid along the runningsurface. Desirable additives are non-ionizing organic polyhydroxycompounds such as glycerol and several of the soluble polyols having theproperty of lowering the freezing point of a solution containing them.

One composition found to be highly efifective as a lubricant and havingother desirable use properties, was composed of an emulsion in water ofa light mineral oil with a metallic sulfonate emulsifier. This wasproduced by mixing approximately five volumes of water with one part ofa product known as Veltex 1000, the latter being composed of from 5 to25 percent by weight of a metallic sulfonate emulsifier with from to 75percent of petroleum lube oil in a viscosity range from about 10 toabout 30. Various glycol type emulsifiers may alternatively be employedor may be added to the Veltex product, for example ethylene glycol maybe a constituent.

The amount of liquid reaching the ice surface is very small and nodisadvantageous effects have been found to arise from its use. Themodification of conventional tube and column forms of hockey skatestructure as described provides a reservoir of ample capacity for longperiods of skating. While the invention has been specificallyillustrated as applied to known skate structures it is to be understoodthat the reservoir volume may be greatly increased and in additiondetachable tank may be disconnectably connected in lieu of filling thereservoirs through filling plugs 18.

Although in the embodiments described the liquid lubricant is led to therunning surface via flow paths on opposite side faces, a groove 49 maybe cut to such depth adjacent the lower margin of each side face as toapply the liquid more directly along the running face liia. To preserveblade or runner strength, a fine bore (not shown) may be passedobliquely from the running face 10:: upwardly to intersect the groove 40on one side face only, and the valve set to discharge to that side only.

In illustration of the efficacy of the present invention a test wascarried out employing a fresh, smooth ice sheet at 16 F. on which a pairof skates were supported in parallel and loaded equally with 200 poundsload on each. A horizontal pull Was applied to accelerate the skates toa sliding speed of feet per minute, after which a constant speed wasmaintained, and the pull measured. The test was repeated with a plainwater lubricant, and with a water-oil emulsion as described. Therespective pulls required to sustain speed of 180 feet per minute were 8pounds, 3 pounds, and 2.6 pounds.

Various other embodiments of the invention will readily suggestthemselves in applying the teachings set out hereinbefore, within thescope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An ice blade comprising a longitudinal blade member providing anice-engaging-fac and a pair of side faces, a longitudinal tubular memberin which the blade member is supported, said member providing areservoir for a liquid lubricant, an opening in said tubular membercommunicating with said reservoir, liquid flow control means foradjusting the rate of flow of liquid from said reservoir through saidopening, and a liquid guiding channel formed in the exterior surface ofsaid tubular member for guiding said flow of liquid along a iiow pathfrom said opening over a side face to the ice-erigaging face.

2. An ice blade as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said flow controlmeans comprises one or more valve bodies secured in a respective openingin said tubular member having coaxial threaded bores and having theirbore axes inclined from the vertical, one end of each of said boresbeing disposed external to said reservoir, port means in said valve bodycommunicating with said reservoir and with said bore, and screw needlevalve means threadedly engaged in said bore for controllably regulatingthe flow of liquid from said port through said valve member to saidexternal end,

3. An ice blade as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said flow controlmeans comprises a valve body transversely mounted in said tubularmember, a bore in said valve body extending therethrough and opening atits ends externally of said tubular member, an internal thread formed insaid bore, a plug of resiliently compressible material pervious to saidliquid lubricant filling said bore intermediate the ends of said valvebody, valve control means threadedly engaged in said bore and movableaxially therein upon relative screw rotation to engage said plug wherebyto vary the compression of said material, port means in said valve bodyfor conveying said liquid lubricant from said reservoir into said plug,and respective bores in said valve control means for conveying liquidbetween said plug and said liquid guiding channels.

4. An ice blade as claimed in claim 1. wherein said longitudinal blademember has its side faces grooved to provide a liquid flow guiding pathbetween said channel and said ice-engaging face.

Dore Oct. 20, 1896 Gamble Aug. 4, 1925

